The first thing to spring to my mind was my thyroid situation. For the first 15 years of my life, I apparently had a hyperactive thyroid but didn’t know it. I thought my high energy level, skinniness, and lack of a need for sleep were just normal. At 15, I had thyroid storm and nearly died. That was the first time I even knew I had hyperthyroid. I missed months of school, and developed severe anxiety when I returned. That’s affected the entire rest of my life.
As a result of the thyroid storm, my thyroid basically died. My whole life changed because of that. I went from being an active and energetic teenager, with a very bright mind, who weighed 114lbs (125lbs before the ‘storm’) to a lethargic and sluggish young woman, with a brain that could no longer grasp math, and weighed 170lbs in the space of a year or two. Despite daily thyroid medication from the age of 17, I have never again felt ‘normal’ (probably because my idea of normal was so skewed). It certainly didn’t help my depression any, that’s for sure.
I lost a lot in the whole process, I think. My confidence took a hit (probably a good thing) due to the body and mind changes and the anxiety. I didn’t want anything to do with doctors for a long while afterward, either. A lot of potential probably went down the drain, and I still feel like a lazy bum, almost 30 years later.